The Budget Navigator is an online tool that allows New Yorkers to be their own budget watchdogs. Users can examine New York State or City revenues and expenses to determine levels of funding in recent years, analyze trends, and see how that funding compares between departments and services.

2,268 is the average daily number of people in adult psychiatric centers in New York State, a decrease from a peak of more than 93,000 people in 1955. Stephen Eide, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, discusses the impacts of deinstitutionalization in New York.

For more than 50 years New York State has financed its Medicaid program in a unique way: the State requires New York City and the 57 other counties to pay more for Medicaid than all other local governments in the nation combined.

Since Bloomberg Associates was launched in 2014, participating cities have invested more than $1 billion in initiatives supported or created by the philanthropic consultancy. Former NYC Deputy Mayor and Bloomberg Associates Principal Linda Gibbs joins the podcast to talk about her work using data to effect change in NYC and other cities.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has a plan to close the jails on Rikers Island, in part by reducing the overall city jail population to 5,000 detainees, down from about 8,200 now, which is down from well over 20,000 two decades ago. Liz Glazer, director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, joined the podcast to discuss the closure of Rikers and the administration’s other criminal justice policies.

7.42% is the compounded salary and wage increases for members of DC37, the City’s largest municipal union for civilian workers, under a new contract that sets the pattern for negotiations with other labor unions. NYC Labor Commissioner Bob Linn joins the podcast to discuss this deal, the dynamics of negotiating with the public workforce, and why health insurance is an area long overdue for savings.

1,441 is the number of overdose fatalities in New York City in 2017. NYC Commissioner of Health Dr. Mary Bassett discusses Healing NYC, a new program designed to combat the opioid health crisis, as well as neighborhood health clinics, lead testing at NYCHA and more.

$225 billion is the total amount added to reserves and the retiree health benefits trust fund in the recently adopted budget. In contrast, the City added more than $2 billion in new spending, far outpacing what was set aside. NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer joined the podcast to discuss the adequacy of the City's reserves, agency spending, and other issues